Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

The Royal Canadian Mint was formed in 1908. It has been a world leader in Gold coin and Silver coin production, running the gamut from numismatic coins to bullion coins. The Royal Canadian Mint makes one of the world’s most widely recognized and respected coins, the Gold Maple Leaf, renowned for its purity and unique security features.

Beyond the Canadian Mint’s prowess, it has a background laced through both Canadian history and geography.

Distributed Locations

The Canadian Mint consists of two mint locations in Canada:

The Ottawa Mint - The Ottawa Mint produces handcrafted collector and commemorative coins, Gold bullion coins, medals and medallions. This mint also performs master tooling to create the dies that strike coin designs for both circulation and commemorative issues. The Royal Canadian Mint’s Gold refining and advanced engineering operations are also located in Ottawa.

The Winnipeg Mint - The Winnipeg Mint is the Royal Canadian Mint’s high-tech, high-volume manufacturing facility. Every single Canadian coin in circulation is produced from this mint.

The Royal Canadian Mint specializes in creating state-of-the-art Canadian Gold and Canadian Silver coins. Their two locations provide this mint unique versatility.

World-Renowned Products

The Canadian Mint is a longstanding producer of incredible Gold coins and Silver coins. Canadian coins’ value stands out from competitors around the world. Some of the RCM’s most well known coins include:

Canadian coins are internationally respected. Indeed, their time-tested prominence reaches back over 100 years.

History of the Royal Canadian Mint

The RCM got its start in 1908, corresponding with an era of expanding Gold production in the Yukon and British Columbia. A refinery was needed to perform the complex chemical work of bringing raw, recently mined Gold up to coinage standards without shipping it all the way back to the United Kingdom. The Canadian Mint's original refinery in Ottawa was completed in 1911

The Ottawa Mint opened its doors under the watchful eye of the Governor General Earl Grey on January 2, 1911. Under his direction, the mint struck Canada’s first domestically produced coin, a fifty-cent piece. On that same day, the Countess Grey closed the ceremony by striking Canada's first bronze cent.

Recent History

During the First World War, the RCM served the British Empire well. Far from enemy fire, it produced large, essential quantities of Gold bars which were used by Great Britain to pay its debts to other countries.

In 1931, the heritage building on Sussex Drive, the surrounding land and the entire minting enterprise passed into Canadian hands, making the mint a wholly Canadian institution. In 1976, the Royal Canadian Mint boosted its operations, opening a high-speed press in the brand new Winnipeg facility.

2014 was the advent of the Canadian Mint’s new anti-counterfeiting measures. With new technological advancements, Gold coins and Silver coins have never been more secure. The Royal Canadian Mint uses Bullion Digital Non-Destructive Activation (DNA) technology to guarantee the integrity of these Canadian coins.

Royal Canadian Mint Production Technology

In 2001, the Royal Canadian Mint became the first mint in the world to use laser technology in its manufacturing process. The molten pattern is recorded by a scanner and cataloged. That way, every coin can be traced back to the exact day it was struck and the die with which it was struck, making Canadian coin values an investor haven.

Laser Technology and Micro-Engraving

Thanks to micro-engraved radial lines on both the obverse and reverse sides, the Silver and Gold Maple Leafs are among the most sophisticated coins in the world. The radial lines make the bullion extremely difficult to replicate, and therefore almost impossible to counterfeit. Every die used to produce the Gold and Silver Maple Leaf coins is laser micro-engraved with an anti-counterfeiting security mark — a textured maple leaf. Using digital non-destructive activation (DNA) technology, the scanning and registration process captures images encrypted with a string of code. Then the Bullion DNA process stores each code in the Royal Canadian Mint’s secure database.

Innovative Attitude

If you are looking to buy Gold or buy Silver, the Canadian Mint has a history of inventive, state-of-the-art coin production. Their attention to detail and security has earned the RCM many award-winning coins and notable firsts. All told, the Royal Canadian Mint is one of the most innovative mints in the world. Some of the Royal Canadian Mint’s notable achievements include:

First colored coin

First hologram coin

First irregular-shaped (square) coin

First 5 oz .9999 fine Silver coin

First coin colored using plasma technology

First million-dollar face-value .99999 pure Gold coin

The Canadian Mint also offers storage services. The Royal Canadian Mint allows branded Precious Metals owned by businesses to be vaulted in the Ottawa and Winnipeg mints in addition to 15 other locations across Canada, the United States and Asia.

Metal Refining

The Canadian Mint originally refined Gold by electrolysis in its assay department. This complex electro-chemical process proved to be time consuming and, as early as 1915, the mint introduced a new chlorination process. Originally developed in Australia, chlorination reduced processing times and enabled the Royal Canadian Mint to increase their refining capacity. Today, they use both processes for optimal results.

Numismatic Coin Production

The Royal Canadian Mint consistently produces coins recognized as the pinnacle of commitment to the highest standards of minting. Many collectors consider each coin to be an individual, unique work of art. Coins are produced either by automatic or manual presses. These two types of presses serve different, but equally important purposes:

Automatic presses - Mainly used to strike coins made of non-Precious Metals like nickel or copper, automatic presses occasionally strike more precious pieces. In an automatic machine, the dies will strike an average of 2,000-5,000 hits before they are changed.

Manual presses - Used to strike Precious Metal blanks to create collector or numismatic coins, most proof coins are struck twice or even three times by manual presses. Tool steel dies, placed inside each press, are used to imprint the desired design on the coin's surfaces.

Circulated Coin Production

While the Ottawa Mint produces most of the Royal Canadian Mint’s collector coins, the Winnipeg Mint oversees its currency coinage. It houses some of the industry’s most technologically advanced processes and equipment. The Winnipeg Mint can produce up to 15 million plated coins each day for Canadian and foreign circulation.

Historical Prestige

A longstanding history of producing Gold and Silver means the Royal Canadian Mint is a steadfast presence in the Precious Metals industry. Its prestige is matched only by the purity of its coinage.

We provide all of our customers with a refund, return and / or exchange on everything we sell including all bullion and certified coins. If for any reason, you have a problem, please feel free to call us. We will always do our best to accommodate you.